Self-publishing has become one of those umbrella terms used to categorise any rendering of printed (or digital) text that doesn’t come with an advance from the company bankrolling the release (or who would give you an advance if things weren’t so darn difficult in the industry right now). I’m self publishing as I write, and I’ll write more about it as the process continues, so I wanted to define the term as reference now – a bit of background so you know where I’m coming from.

“What is a Publisher? ?The Publisher is generally the person or body who takes the financial risk in making a product available. For example, if a product went on sale and sold no copies at all, the Publisher is usually the person or body who loses money. If you get paid anyway, you are likely to be a designer, printer, author or consultant of some kind.”

I lifted that from www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk – the people who’ll sort you out with an ISBN number (that you DON’T NEED) in the UK. It gives a good definition of what a publisher is, and if we’re extrapolating to define self-publishing, with “self” being you, you need to make sure you fit that description.

I’m assuming you’re also the author in this equation; if you’re not, you’re just a publisher, in which case you’ve got your own problems to deal with.

A self-publishing author, therefore, is someone paying to have his or her book printed. Note “printed”, not “published”. There’s a difference.

So what other acts of publication are routinely lumped in under the self-publishing umbrella?

Print on Demand (POD)
I looked into POD, and on the surface, it’s a great idea. A customer orders a book, it’s printed, and you get paid. Kind of. The returns on POD aren’t great, as there’s essentially a printer, publisher and distributer in the queue ahead of you taking a bite out of your pie. If you’ve written a non-fiction book on a specialist subject that you can sell for £20 or upward in paperback, POD can get you in touch with a large market quickly, and you can make a lot of cash. Otherwise, it’s fine as a hobby.

Publishing Services
I don’t know much about these, as the idea is flawed so I’ve never explored any further. When you send a submission off to a publishing house, you’re hoping they agree to print your book and send you a cheque for a couple of grand, not ask for a cheque and expect you to do all the marketing. Whichever way you look at it, this route is closest to the traditional view of vanity publishing.

Online Publication/Podcasting
This is a great way to get your work out there, and you’re in control. Unfortunately, until someone invents a replicator like they had in Star Trek that can knock up a printed book when you click download, there’s no good way to monetise this, and who wants to give their hard work away for free? EBooks? Kindle? I’ll leave those for another post.

Self-publishing, to me at least, means doing it yourself. You pay to get the books printed, you arrange retail or sell direct, and you handle the distribution. It’s a lot of work – a LOT of work – and there is significant financial risk involved, but – and here’s the important part for me – it’s a lot of fun!

Take control, get involved, learn the skills, meet the people, make a move. If you think your book is strong enough to risk £500-£1000 of your own money, and you have the enthusiasm, then find a printer, become a publisher yourself and collect 100% of the royalties. After tax…

I’m going to write about everything I experience in getting my book printed and into readers’ hands, so maybe I’ll be able to help with the technical aspects of how it’s done – the typesetting, print-ready pdf generation, ISBN numbers, copyright, and so on – but as for that stake money, yeah… you’re on your own.